But he was not a coward during the confrontation, prompting Freddy to speculate: The Margarines' cat takes refuge at the Bean Farm, suspiciously claiming he was not given enough food at home.

After hearing the snake's plans to eat his friends, Freddy seeks the help of the sarcastic and intelligent owl, Old Whibley.

He finds the Commanche Kid for advice, and Billy is coming to an appreciation of his situation when news reaches the farm that Mr. Margarine has taken a Bean cow, Mrs. Wiggins, captive.

The two come to amicable terms: Freddy is now Billy's friend, and outfits him with similar cowboy clothes.

Freddy lives on the Bean farm with animal friends: a cat, dogs, cows, chickens, ducks, and rabbits, as well as a variety of owls, jays, and toads: several play a role in the book.

There are 34 black and white, pen and ink drawings by Kurt Wiese, endpapers, a frontispiece and a full color cover depicting scenes from the book.

Yes, Mr. Brooks has kept caught up with the favorite subjects of radio and TV, and many children of a new era twenty years after To and Again may prefer it to that most amusing minor masterpiece."

(New York Herald Tribune Book Review, November 11, 1951, p. 5) "New England flavor seasons this highly entertaining though soundly instructive tale of onerousness revamped, of strength in union, of the power of laughter."

An audio version read by John McDonough, running 5 hours on CD and cassette, was made by Recorded Books.